Bill filed to require one-year ‘cooling off’ for state officials before lobbying

Legislation banning top state officials from lobbying state government for a year after leaving their jobs was introduced Wednesday in the state House of Representatives.

The proposal – which we wrote about last week – would apply the one-year “cooling off period” to state legislators, statewide elected officials, the directors and senior staff of major state agencies and top legislative aides.

The directors and senior staff of smaller state agencies would face a lesser restriction: they’d be banned for a year from lobbying their former agency, but could immediately lobby other parts of state government.

House Bill 1136 is sponsored by Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, and Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia at the request of state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

The proposal is an effort to resolve the “revolving door” perception that government officials are trading on their taxpayer financed knowledge and connections to land lucrative lobbying gigs.

About this blog

Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.